Cold element for demountable refrigerators



May 30, 1950 w, MORRlSON 2,509,779

i cow ELEMENT FOR DEMOUNTABLE REERIGERATORS i Filed Feb. 14. 1948 s Sheets-Sheet 1 fnv-en Z'or May 30, 1950 w. L. MORRISON COLD ELEMENT FOR DEMOUNTABLE REFRIGERATORS Filed Feb. 14, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 [n ven Z'or y 195*) w. MORRISON 2,509,779

COLD ELEMENT FOR DEMOUNTABLE REFRIGERATORS Filed Feb. 14, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 [n venzop IZ/Z-ZZ 9 2 0 l Morrison 232W Patented May 30, 1950 COLD ELEMENT FOR DEMOUNTABLE REFRIGERATORS Willard L. Morrison, Highland Park, Ill.

Application February 14, 1948, Serial No. 8,455

My invention relates to a cold element for a demountable refrigerator and has for one purpose to provide a multiple cold wall refrigerating unit that can be easily moved through doorways.

Another purpose is to provide multiple refrigerating walls that can be folded together for easy shipment.

Another purpose is to provide multiple refrigerating walls that can be mounted within a refrigerator.

Another purpose is to provide multiple refrigerating walls operating on one continuous circuit.

Another purpose is to provide a plurality of separate refrigerating walls forming a part of a refrigerating system, and to join those walls and the refrigerating system elements on the walls in a unitary circuit without the use of special connectors, elbows or swivel members, so that the walls may be shipped in knocked-down assembly with the refrigerating system in place, and may be opened up to take their place in a refrigerating system.

Other purposes will appear from time to time in the course of the specifications and claim.

My invention is illustrated more or less diagrammatically in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a perspective view of the cold walls in position to be installed in a refrigerator;

Figure 2 is a view of the cold walls laid fiat to show the tubing connections;

Figure 3 is a front view of the cold walls folded together;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the box with the cold walls inserted;

Figure 5 is a section through the wall and cold plate.

Like parts are indicated by like symbols throughout the specification and drawings.

Referring to the drawings, I show in Figure 1 the refrigeration walls A, B, C, D in position to be placed in an insulated box. The refrigerant fluid flows in the tubes I. In Figure 2, the fiow between plates is more clearly shown. The refrigerant from the compressor enters at 2 and feeds the evaporator plate A through a filter 3 and a restrictor 4. The refrigerant line feeding plate B makes an inclined obtuse angle bend crossing 5 between the plates A and B. By avoiding a right angle bend over the edge of plates the tubing does not kink, but twists, bends gradually and does not collapse. The obtuse inclined angle allows a gentle twisting movement of the pipe which is not harmfully distorting. The refrigerant line 6 on plate B feeds to plate 1 Claim. (Cl. 62-126) D in an obtuse angle crossing I. The refrigerant for plate D is regulated by a filter 8 and a restrictor 9. a

The refrigerant line 6 feeds plate B through filter l0 and restrictor II. The refrigerant line 6 also feeds to plate C through obtuse angle crossing l2, filter l3, and restrictor ll.

After circulating through the plates in parallel, the refrigerant returns through suction line It, the fluid in the tubes of plate C returning through an obtuse angle crossing IIG, the fluid in the tubes of plate D returning through an obtuse angle crossing tube IT. The suction line l5 makes an obtuse angle crossing 18 to travel to plate A and return to the compressor at 15.

This cold element can be placed in any insulated box as shown in Figure 4. The cold plates are secured to the walls allowing a space 20 for the tubes carrying the refrigerating fluid. Figure 5 is an enlargement of a section of the wall illustrating the box as consisting of an inner wall 2| and an outer wall 23 with insulation 22 between the walls. This forms an airtight wall so it is not necessary for the various walls of the cold element to be fastened tightly together.

The use and operation of my invention are as follows:

Because of the obtuse angle crossings of copper tubing connecting the plates, it is possible to fold the plates together as shown in Figure 3, without harmful distortion of the tubes. A slight movement of the tubing allows it to fold around the edges of the plates. This makes it easy to ship and move. For large size refrigerators a large cold element could not be easily handled if it were in one piece, but by folding the walls in on one another it becomes fairly simple to move the entire cold element through doorways or up and down stairs.

Figure 4 illustrates how this cold element can be slipped into any insulated box.

It has been contemplated in the past that separate cold plates or refrigerating walls with a portion of the refrigerating system mounted on or attached thereto be shipped separately and assembled in situ, but that the portions of the refrigerating system associated with each wall would be connected together after assembly by the use of special couplings, connectors and the like. What I propose is to build the entire refrigerating system so far as the coils carried on or associated with the cold plates and their connecting means are concerned, as a fixed, permanent unit, without the use of any special type of connector. This is made possible by bridging the gap between adjacent plates by pipe connections which extend diagonally across the plates so that when the plates are rotated with respect to one another these pipe connections bend about very gradual angles and rotate or twist so that there is no danger of breakage or collapsing of the connections.

This is an entirely practical arrangement because under ordinary circumstances these cold plates, which are assembled in the factory with the various elements of the refrigerant system, are then assembled for shipping by rotating them with respect to one another, thus twisting or bending the pipes. And when the package is received at the place where it is to be used and the plates are again rotated into rectangular form to fit into an ice box, that is the last time in the life of that machine that these pipes will be bent, so that a single bending action, repeated first in one direction and then for the last time in exactly the opposite direction, does not, experience has taught, provided the angles are right, result in breakage, collapsing or dangerous restriction of the pipes.

This makes it possible, of course, to assemble, in a room the windows and doors of which are too small to admit the size box desired, a box, provided the box is built in place either by prefabricated elements or by mere carpenter help. Under these circumstances the cooling elements can be shipped knocked-down in a package small enough to enter the room, may then be opened and the box assembled, machinery attached, and

the box placed into operation.

The importance of this arrangement is, first,

that there is then no possibility of leakage from the system ot the refrigerant as a result of the assembling act, no possibility of the introduction into the refrigerant system of any foreign matter, and this is possible under circumstances where the assembler may have a minimum amount of skill and no tools, which is the usual situation when boxes of this kind are shipped far away from the factory for assembly.

I claim:

A refrigeration element including a plurality of separate fiat plates, refrigeration coils mounted on said plates and having connections extending from one plate to another, the connections extending diagonally with respect to the common edges of adjacent plates, a housing adapted to loosely enclose said plates and hold them at right angles to one another with the coils interposed between the inner wall of the housing and the outer walls 01' the plates, the plates being held in position only by their enclosure in the housing and by the tubes joining them.

WILLARD L. MORRISON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are or record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,879,241 Hill Sept. 27, 1932 2,306,772 Benson Dec. 29, 1942 2,334,284 Phlli p Nov. 16, 1943 2,359,926 McCullough Oct. 10, 1944 2,386,889 Furry Oct. 16, 1945 2,413,233 Johnson Dec. 24, 1946 

